At a minimum, the recent government shutdown cost the U.S. government an estimated $3 billion, according to the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office.
That figure represents the loss of economic activity from the 800,000 furloughed employees as well as a drop in government purchases of goods and services, never to be made up.
CBO officials say the $3 billion could be just the tip of the iceberg. With every day of the five-week shutdown the most protracted in U.S. history came postponed hiring and investment decisions by corporations and industries. Because of the shutdown, first-quarter earnings are expected to be down by $8 billion.
CLEARLY, neither the U.S. economy nor the livelihoods of federal workers should be made to suffer from the political brinkmanship that brought on the shutdown.
The policy of using them as pawns is wrong, which is why some members of Congress, Republicans and Democrats, are currently fleshing out ideas to prevent government shutdowns for good.
When faced with another impasse, Sen. Mark Warner, D-Virginia, has proposed the funding levels from the previous fiscal year be reinstated and rather than put the jobs and paychecks of federal employees on hold, those for members of Congress and the office of the president will be withheld until the issue is resolved.
If the big shots were to go without pay, Sen. Warner said, his hunch is that any impasse would be quickly resolved.
For five consecutive years, Sen. Rob Portman, R-Ohio, has proposed legislation that would automatically keep spending taps open during such conflicts.
Portman suggests that if the spending rates for the 14 separate funding packages cant be decided by deadline, that they also be kept the same as the previous years, but face a 1-percent reduction for every few months that things remain at a standstill. God forbid.
Either measure has merit, but more importantly they put the emphasis where it belongs running a government and not giving a single issue such as a border wall the ability to hold the government hostage.
With less than three weeks to settle on an acceptable spending package or else risk President Trumps threat of another shutdown, time is of essence to remove it as political leverage.
Legislators should feel beholden to the U.S. Constitution, not a presidents personal agenda, and as such should have that decide their course.
Susan Lynn
